Correcting GST errors

If the GST error occurred before 1 July 2012

If you made a credit error on an activity statement for a reporting period that started before 1 July 2012, you can correct the GST error on a later activity statement if either of the following occurs:

• the GST net amount for the reporting period in which the error was made did not cease to be payable
• you have an entitlement to an outstanding GST refund for that reporting period that has not expired.

The GST net amount for the reporting period generally ceases to be payable four years after it became payable by you.

Your entitlement to a GST refund expires four years from the end of the reporting period to which the refund relates unless either of the following occurs:

• you notify us of the entitlement to the refund during the four year period
• we notify you of your entitlement to the refund during the four year period.

For more information about the time limits for claiming GST refunds that applies to reporting periods starting before 1 July 2012, refer to Time limits on GST refunds.

Example 5: Credit errors made in pre and post 1 July 2012 reporting periods

Sajeev Enterprises lodges quarterly activity statements and has a current GST turnover of $4 million. In March 2014, Sajeev Enterprises carries out a review of its past activity statements and discovers the following GST errors:

Summary of Sajeev Enterprises' GST errors

Reporting period	GST error	Credit error
December 2007	Double counted GST on taxable sales	$1,000
September 2010	Under claimed GST credits	$22,000
September 2012	Clerical error	$18,000
June 2013	Didn't claim a decreasing GST adjustment	$2,000
	Total	$43,000

Sajeev Enterprises lodges its activity statement for the March 2014 reporting period on 28 April 2014. Sajeev Enterprises did not give the Commissioner a notification of its entitlement to the refund in relation to the credit error that was made in the December 2007 reporting period. Therefore, the time limit for correcting that GST error expired on 31 December 2011. As a result, the GST error cannot be corrected.

The $22,000 error in the September 2010 reporting period can be corrected in the March 2014 activity statement. This is because the GST error is being corrected in an activity statement that is being lodged within four years from the end of the September 2010 reporting period.

Sajeev Enterprises lodges its activity statements for the September 2012 and June 2013 reporting periods on 28 October 2012 and 28 July 2013 respectively. The September 2012 and June 2013 errors, totalling $20,000, can also be corrected in the March 2014 reporting period as those GST errors are being corrected in a reporting period that starts within the four year period of review for the September 2012 and June 2013 activity statements.

Sections within Credit error time limit

• If the GST error occurred on or after 1 July 2012
• If the GST error occurred before 1 July 2012